The year 2024 squeaked through another IPO this week, that of Actuate Therapeutics Inc., which raised $22.4 million becoming the 15th biopharma company to debut on U.S. exchanges this year. Out of 17 companies total, including one listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and another on the SIX Swiss Exchange, the industry has raised a total of $4.8 billion through IPOs.

The U.S. FDA approved 17 drugs in July, down from 28 in June, which marked the third-highest month in BioWorld’s records. On average, the FDA approved approximately nearly 19 drugs per month so far in 2024, compared to 16 per month in 2023, 12.5 per month in 2022, and 17 per month in both 2021 and 2020.

European biopharmas saw a huge surge in new funding in the second quarter of 2024, raising a collective $4.1 billion, compared to $1.9 billion in the same period of 2023. With the IPO market in Europe still virtually non-existent, $1.45 billion of this was venture capital, while $2.64 billion was raised in follow-on funding. The majority of VC funding was raised by companies in five countries, with $799.6 million raised in the U.K., $272.5 million in Switzerland, $201.8 million raised in Germany, $59 million in France and $25.7 million in Sweden.

Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd.’s NNZ-2591 met the primary endpoints in a phase II trial in children with Angelman syndrome, with improvements seen in clinically important aspects of the disease, including communication, behavior, cognition and motor abilities, Neuren CEO Jon Pilcher said during an Aug. 9 conference call.

In July, biopharma deal values surged to $20.68 billion, a 61% increase from June's $12.82 billion. The boost pushed the total deal value for the first seven months of 2024 to $119.99 billion, marking the highest amount raised through July in BioWorld‘s records.

With inter partes reviews (IPR) once feared as patent killers, the mere fact that an IPR petition challenging a drug or device patent had been filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was enough to send a company’s stock tumbling. That initial fear has “kind of ebbed and flowed” over the past 12 years as the patent reviews established by the America Invents Act have come of age, Aziz Burgy, a partner and patent litigator at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP, told BioWorld.

The BioWorld Cancer Index (BCI) finished July down 3.94% for the year, maintaining its downward trend after reaching a high of 11.07% at the end of February and closing in March with a 3.92% gain. In comparison, the BCI underperformed the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index, which climbed 10.82%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which posted an 8.37% increase over the first seven months of the year.